ALL meanings of gravitational lens
grav·i·ta·tion lens
G g - noun gravitational lens a heavy, dense body, as a galaxy, that lies along our line of sight to a more distant object, as a quasar, and whose gravitational field refracts the light of that object, splitting it into multiple images as seen from the earth. 1
- noun gravitational lens a lenslike effect in which light rays are bent when passing through the gravitational field of such massive objects as galaxies or black holes 0
- noun gravitational lens a massive celestial body, esp. a galaxy or cluster of galaxies, having enough gravity to refract light waves from a more distant object, esp. a quasar, so that an observer sees an amplified or multiple image (gravitational lensing) 0
- noun gravitational lens (astronomy) A massive body that produces distorted, magnified or multiple images of more distant objects when its gravitational field bends the path of light rays. 0